Flattening iOS was a strategic move focused more on the watch than iPhone or iPad – commentators
Some things are blindingly obvious in hindsight, and Iconfactory principal Craig Hockenberry and Daring Fireball’s John Gruber made one of these points about the flattening of iOS.
“The flattening of Apple’s user interface that began in iOS 7 was as much a strategic move as an aesthetic one,” says Hockenberry, with Gruber adding that “iOS 6-style skeuomorphism would’ve felt downright gauche on the watch.”
Not just gauche, but also hard to read on such a small display. I think both are right: while Ive may have preferred the minimalism of iOS 7 and 8 on the larger devices, what was a preference for the iPhone and iPad was a necessity for the Apple Watch.
